if panama got control of the panama canal, that would be the beginning of a very quick and bloody end for america. this worked great for ronald reagan in political terms. this was one of the main issues he rode to power on in the 1970s. even as people in his own party, even his own friends, saw what he was doing as disgusting and craven and bad for the country. quoting from a book about this chapter of history that i wrote, while william f. buckley and america's beloved tough guy, john wayne, yes that john wayne, campaigned full on for the rat faction of the treaty, reagan said the loss of the panama canal would contribute to incirclement of the united states by hostin naval forces and thereby threaten our ability to survive. even after john wayne sent reagan a private and personal note offering to show him point by goddamn point in the treaty where you are misinforming people and offering fair warning that's it's time for him to shut his pie hole, if you continue to publish these remarks, someone will release the letter saying that you're not as thorough in your reviewing of this or